Oman Air has launched direct daily service between Muscat and Moscow, the air carriers said in a press release on Tuesday.

"Oman Air, the National Carrier of the Sultanate of Oman has commenced its new daily direct service between Russia and Oman, with its first flight departing Muscat International Airport to Moscow Domodedovo Airport on 30th October," the company said. "The inaugural flight, WY 181 departed Muscat International Airport at 14:55 after a cake cutting ceremony. The flight arrived in Moscow at 19:55. With a flight time of 5 hours and 35 minutes, WY182 departs Moscow Domodedovo Airport at 00.20, arriving into the award-winning new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport at 06.55."

The air carrier will operate Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to service the new route.

"I am pleased to announce the addition of a new long-awaited route to our network. Russia is an increasingly important destination from Oman, and since we announced this route earlier in the year, we have seen strong interest, both from Oman travelers and from customers transiting through our Muscat hub from cities around the world," said Abdulaziz Al Raisi, Oman Air CEO.

Moscow is Oman Air’s third destination, after Turkey’s Istanbul and Morocco’s Casablanca, to be launched in 2018. By 2022, the company plans to expand the geography to 60 destinations worldwide.

Plans to launch direct air service between Muscat and Moscow were announced back in 2016. Originally, it was planned to begin flights in 2017.

When visiting Oman, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house Valentina Matviyenko noted that the lack of direct air service between Russia and Oman was constraining tourist and business contacts and cultural exchanges.

From November 1, 2017, Russian nationals can obtain one-month tourism visas at the Muscat airport in case they have valid Schengen, US, UK, Canadian or Australian visas.